Question 1

Why is it el uno al otro (masculine) if one of the animals, la araña, is feminine?

Accepted Answer

When a reciprocal action involves a mixed-gender pair or group (here, masculine el pájaro and feminine la araña), Spanish defaults to the masculine form. You use el uno al otro rather than trying to mix the genders within the phrase.

Question 2

Is el uno al otro strictly necessary here, or would se cazan be enough on its own?

Accepted Answer

se cazan on its own can mean either "they hunt themselves" (reflexive) or "they hunt each other" (reciprocal). Even though common sense tells us these animals don't hunt themselves, adding el uno al otro completely removes any ambiguity and puts a strong emphasis on the "each other" aspect.

Question 3

Could I use mutuamente in this sentence instead?

Accepted Answer

Yes! You could perfectly well say se cazan mutuamente. Both phrases do the exact same job of clarifying that the action goes back and forth between the two subjects. mutuamente is often a handy alternative because it never changes form, meaning you don't have to worry about matching gender or number.

Question 4

Why does the sentence start with Para la supervivencia instead of Por la supervivencia?

Accepted Answer

para is used here because it expresses a goal or an objective. The animals are hunting in order to achieve survival. If you used por, it would point to a past cause or reason rather than a future goal.

Para la supervivencia, el pájaro salvaje y la araña se cazan el uno al otro.

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